As she walked off the field in defeat, a familiar pain traced down her arm. It was her sophomore year, eight years since this pain first surged through her and eight years of complete uncertainty.
After years on end of the same pain in her elbow, all the power behind her throws was completely drained. Senior Malia Breedlove made the relieving decision to get the help she has longed for.
“It’s hard to realize what’s pain and what’s soreness, but I couldn’t put any power or strength behind my throw anymore without extreme pain,” Breedlove said. “So at that point, I was like, ‘I can’t do it anymore. It’s not worth it.’ And that’s when I decided to go get help.”
After four major injuries, years of recovery and physical therapy, Breedlove is nearing the end of her senior year stronger than ever, excelling behind the plate and in the classroom.
Though pain and soreness was a constant hum hidden in the shadows of her softball career. Her injuries became apparent starting in her sophomore year.
Breedlove suffered from a major concussion after getting hit in the head with a ball while catching. This was a setback in her academic career, causing her GPA to drop from a 4.2 to a 3.2 in an instant.
This affected Breedlove in a large sense due to her always being an exceptional student.
After six long and difficult months of constant pain, Breedlove saw some improvement in her recovery. with a little bit more strength under her belt, Breedlove got back on the field
Fast forward to her junior year, Breedlove underwent an ulnar nerve reposition surgery on her elbow in hopes of curing the numbness throughout her arm. The surgeons repositioned her nerve due to it constantly popping in and out of her nerve pocket.
She was later diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), which gave a more clear indication of her previous elbow surgery and what was causing the numbness.
TOS compressed the nerves between her collarbone and first rib, causing neck and arm pain.
“The first surgery was rough because I had just stopped playing softball,” Breedlove said. “I was struggling with the idea of not being able to play. I thought I wasn’t gonna come back.”
After the surgery, she transferred into physical therapy where she worked to straighten her arm with a professional for around 4-5 months.
At the time, Breedlove was unaware that she still had a nerve issue in her elbow, which led to the recovery being a lot more intense than originally intended.
“I lost a lot of muscle. You could visually tell the difference in my arms,” Breedlove said.
After a long and strenuous recovery, Breedlove was ready, more than ever, to get back behind the plate for her senior year. But before she could, she had to undergo a rib reduction to release tension due to her TOC.
Once she recovered from surgery, she discovered how her body has changed due to her surgery.
“The recovery process was weird for me because I got my rib removed and I had never felt that in my body before,” Breedlove said. “Getting used to something being gone that’s been there your whole life is very difficult. So it wasn’t so much getting back from it or getting stronger. It was more getting used to how my body’s changed.”
Nearing the end of recovery and being in the gym for seven days a week attempting to rebuild that muscle memory she once had.
She was two days away from being cleared to return to softball when it all went downhill again. Breedlove was in a minor car accident, fracturing her collarbone.
“I went and got an x-ray, and they told me everything was fine,” Breedlove said. “So then I went to my surgeon, and he was like, ‘It’s not fine. They missed it.’”
Because of the rib reduction surgery, her collarbone was weak and susceptible to injury.
The recovery process for her fracture was much less time-consuming, seeing as though the next time she visited her surgeon, she was cleared.
Going into her senior year, Breedlove was fully cleared and eager to get back to the playing field.
Junior Hayli Phoenix, Breedlove’s close friend and teammate, was by her side through it all. She served as a large support on and off the field.
“She didn’t really get down on herself,” Phoenix said. “She fought back as hard as she (could) and tried to get better each day.”
Within her team, she has been able to step into a leadership role and guide other players through not only the game but their injuries as well.
“She’s a leader,” head coach James Thorpe said. “Being your catcher on the field, they’re kind of the coaches on the field, so to speak. She’s really learning how to be a leader but speaking in the proper way to be that leader. I would say that’s where she’s come a long way and she’s still getting better at it.”
This season, she’s helped drive the team to a 12-9 record. She has contributed with her .433 on-base percentage, 21 hits and 20 RBIs this season.
Breedlove is taking on more than just softball. She has also found the time to balance her academics, bumping her GPA back up and succeeding in both areas.
Moving ahead to college, Breedlove will attend IU Columbus for Biology then continue on to get her doctorate of physical therapy.
Until then, she will continue attending C9 for the remainder of her senior year to receive her CCMA to elevate her prehand experience before college begins.
Though she had to overcome rigorous obstacles to get where she is today, she continues to strive behind the plate and in the classroom, setting an example to those around her.
“It’s just showing them that an injury isn’t the end of everything. It’s just a minor setback and can actually show you a lot more of the game,” Breedlove said.
